A US-based business has created a battery that can last up to 28,000 years by combining radioactive isotopes from nuclear waste with ultra-thin coatings of nano diamonds.
The Nano Diamond Battery (NDB) claims that the radioactive battery is ‘totally safe’ for people, and that it plans to begin selling it to commercial partners, including space agencies, for long-term missions, within the next two years.
The business is also developing a consumer version of the battery that may last over a decade without recharging a smartphone or electric car. This not only eliminates the nuisance of recharging our devices, but it also addresses the environmental concerns of battery manufacturing and disposal.
“The DNV stacks, as well as the source, are coated with a layer of poly-crystalline diamond, which is known for being the most thermally conductive material, as well as having the ability to contain the radiation within the device and is the hardest material, 12 times tougher than stainless steel,” a DNP spokesperson said. As a result, our product is exceptionally durable and tamperproof.”
The battery is powered by radioactive waste graphite, which is used in graphite-cooled nuclear reactors and is wrapped in nano-thin, single crystalline diamond layers that serve as both a semiconductor and a heat sink.
Each unit will have a single crystalline diamond that will absorb the isotopes’ energy. Diamonds are now scarce and have the maximum energy conductivity, which means they swiftly transmit heat from radioactive graphite and generate electricity in the process.
